Structure and functions of legal culture

Almost throughout the history of its development, mankind has tried to find the most successful and effective regulator of social relations. After all, the interaction of the society takes place by uniting people into groups, which, in turn, form the population of a particular state. During the search for the best regulator, various methods of influence were tried. The first was violence. But very soon it became clear that this method is effective only in the hands of a skilful leader. In the absence of this weighty factor, any violent regime collapses. The second effective method was religion. But its effectiveness has also outlived itself soon enough, because not everyone has a deep faith in the higher powers.

With the gradual development of social thinking, people began to invent the law. Today it is the main regulator of public relations around the world. However, its development can be at a completely different level in a particular country. This indicator, in turn, is called a legal culture, the functions and structure of which will be discussed later in the article. It should also be noted that the effectiveness of the law and many other features depend on the factor mentioned.

The concept of law

The functions of legal culture, as well as the concept of this category, must be considered only in tandem with the main regulator of social relations. About him we already mentioned. As of today, as already indicated earlier, is the law. Let's determine what kind of phenomenon it is.

From a scientific point of view, law is a way of influencing social interaction, which is a separate system of interrelated, socially-defined, sanctioned and guaranteed by the state special behavioral rules. In other words, this category is a collection of permissions and prohibitions. Based on this thesis, we can say that the legal culture, concept, functions, the types of which are presented in the article, has its own characteristics.

What is a legal culture ?

As we know, a stable system of life principles, ideals and objective assessments is called human culture. This category defines, first of all, the mental and spiritual development of man as a conscious being. However, the cultural component can be subdivided into many interrelated criteria. Each of them shows the relationship and actual interaction of a person with certain branches of his activity. Hence it follows that legal culture is a structural element of the classical category. But there is a completely logical question about what this concept is.

According to the widespread scientific opinion, legal culture is a certain level of objective assessments and knowledge regarding the law and all related factors. This knowledge can exist in the form of separate intellectual attitudes, life experiences, beliefs, personal norms, etc. The legal culture, concept, functions, the types of which are represented by the author, manifests itself in both legal and other spheres of social regulation. Namely: ethnic, state, professional.

Form expression category

Many people try to understand that they represent a legal culture. The concept, its functions are of key importance in the process of social regulation of society. Because it is expressed in a special form. The category has its influence due to the fact that its main provisions are included in the official state regulations. At the same time, the level of the state's legal culture depends on the number and hierarchy of the NAP, in which its key points are applied.

However, there are other factors that indicate the development of the concept presented in the state. If we take into account specifically the Russian Federation, then in this country the legal culture is at a high level, because there is a system of special bodies. They, in turn, issue appropriate regulations.

Correlation of concepts

Quite often people confuse such terms as the legal culture of society and the legal culture of the individual. In general, they are contiguous. However, the categories are represented by completely different objects. In the first case we are talking about legal culture in general. That is, in this form the term is applicable directly to the state and its population.

In turn, the legal culture of the individual is the actual knowledge and understanding of the key aspects of law. At the same time, a high level of this category will be manifested in how often people fulfill the requirements of the legal regime, taking into account the awareness of its existence in general. However, the legal culture of society and the individual are also types of the term referred to in the article.

The main types of legal culture

The legal culture, concept, structure, functions of which are presented in this article, has not only characteristic features, but also species. Classification of the category is carried out on the basis of three stages of its existence. In other words, legal culture can exist at the level of society as a whole, as well as in the environment of hotel groups and individuals.

Previously, the author had already tried to explain what the categories of personal and public levels are. Nevertheless, they are also endowed with a number of other features that simply need to be taken into account when analyzing the concept. In addition, the types and functions of legal culture are quite strongly interconnected. After all, depending on the scope of the category, there are those or other factors. Thus, there are the following types, namely:

• Legal culture of the person;
• Legal culture of the group;
• Legal culture of society.

Each of these elements plays a significant role in the process of regulating social relations. After all, due to different levels of action, the right can be "rebuilt" to the actual interests of specific groups and individuals.

Personal and group culture of a legal nature

Earlier, the author has already indicated that the availability of legal knowledge of the individual shows its level of development. In addition, subjective legal culture is often an indicator of civil society, in which people not only realize the existence of their rights, but also fight for them. In the theory of law enforcement, personal execution and knowledge of one's powers are a guarantee of the rule of law and order. Hence, we can distinguish a number of factors that determine the legal culture of each individual, namely:

• Actual availability of legal knowledge.
• Ability to transform this knowledge into subjective measures of assessment or belief.
• Readiness and desire to act to realize their convictions and defend their correctness.

The legal culture of the group is more specific in nature. As a rule, this term is characterized by a vision of the legal system and other related concepts on the part of a small number of individuals who are in interrelation with each other. But, as practice shows, the legal culture of the group actually absorbs individuals and their beliefs due to the ideology that prevails in the state. A very small number of social formations have their own beliefs, independent of any external factors. It follows that in such groups the individual will not be perceived as a link emerging from the rules.

Public legal culture

The third and most significant type of the category indicated in the article is the culture of the whole society as a whole. Very often it is called the state system of beliefs and principles. The legal culture of the society reflects the most important interests of the population of the state, as well as the level of actual application of the norms of official acts both from the authorities of the country and the society.

Structure of legal culture

Many functions of legal culture, and, more precisely, the process of their actual application depends on the structural elements of this concept. Because the separate system parts of the legal category of beliefs and internal perception of the principles of social regulation of society, determine the existence of specific functional problems of the concept specified in the article. To date, the legal culture consists of the following structural elements, namely:

• Legal awareness and legal activity of citizens;
• Legal practice.

Elements are key in the structure of legal culture, because on their basis it is possible to analyze its actual state.

The legal consciousness of society, what is it?

The structure and functions of legal culture, as the author has already indicated, are concepts closely related to each other. But in order to understand the essence of their interaction, it is necessary to consider each system element separately. Let's start with the sense of justice of society. For many people and even some scientists, this element raises many questions. So, what is it? If we analyze the concept from the point of view of linguistics, we can say that it consists of the words "right" and "consciousness." The latter term is a special mental state of each person. Consciousness is expressed in the ability of the individual to interact with the outside world and on this basis to put forward his own opinion.

As we understand, sense of justice is a branch of the classical term. That is, it is expressed in the level of knowledge by individuals of legal norms, as well as the desire and ability to use them: to observe prohibitions, to realize rights and duties. In other words, a person sees the law not as a separate, unnecessary sphere, but recognizes it as the main regulator of social relations, understands its true meaning. Of great importance in this case is the person's ability to interpret legal norms. Of course, not everyone can do it correctly. However, all of us can put forward our own opinion on the degree of implementation of the opportunities and the effectiveness of the prohibitions permitted by law.

In addition, the sense of justice can manifest itself in completely different ways. For example, people directly connected with the law on duty, are obliged to understand well the current legislation of their state. In turn, ordinary citizens are not constrained by this duty. It is quite realistic for them to know the standard norms that affect the normal process of vital activity, that is, the very minimum. This knowledge includes the classical principles of law, as well as certain provisions of individual industries. For example: family, labor, civil and, of course, criminal.

It should be noted that in any state, such a phenomenon as legal responsibility is envisaged. It occurs when an individual or a social group does not comply with the requirements of the rule of law. In this case, the phenomenon of legal culture, such as the presumption of knowledge of legal norms, plays a role. This means that all official documents are mandatory for acquaintance of all persons without exception on the territory of a particular state. At the same time, ignorance of laws does not absolve from responsibility for their violation.

Legal practice

The legal culture, concept, structure, functions, whose types we describe, has in its system a second important element. It has the name of legal practice. This element plays an important role, because thanks to it, the ordinary life of a person occurs under the influence of legal norms. Thus, legal practice is an activity aimed at creating, interpreting and actually applying legal norms in accordance with the cultural trends of the society of a particular state. There are several main indicators on which it is possible to determine the state of legal practice, namely:

• Legislative activity. It is the first area to analyze the effectiveness of legal practice. After all, from the state of legislation, many everyday life issues of ordinary individuals depend, as well as entire bodies of national power. It should be noted that the process of norm-setting is effective if it is carried out within the framework of certain procedures. Otherwise, the state legal policy may be filled with "legislative garbage", which for today is not a unique phenomenon for some European states.
• The level of enforcement among law enforcement officials and courts. In other words, we are talking about the high professionalism of such people and their experience in the process of settling certain legal situations. Also, the level of enforcement can be analyzed by the work of lawyers who carry out their activities outside government walls. For example, private lawyers, notaries, etc.
• Law and order. According to the state of these parameters, one can see the orderliness of social relations, as well as the degree of their subordination to existing steam standards. Legal culture in this case plays a primary role, because it influences the existence in the minds of individuals of beliefs about the need to obey the law.

Functions of the legal culture of society

Given all the above features of the category mentioned in the article, it should be noted that it performs a number of rather specific functions. But it is thanks to them that the legal culture is a practical, not a purely theoretical phenomenon. Thus, among the main functions of the category are the following, namely:

• One of the main activities of the category that affects the establishment of a legal policy in the state and the organization of civil society is the cognitive task. The functions of legal culture, as we know, are quite multifaceted. Specifically, with the help of this line of action, the interests of different social groups are consolidated into a single ideology.
• The value-normative function of legal culture is the actual possibility of individuals to assess the legal sphere of their state. After all, laws and other normative acts are not always ideal. Therefore, each person should understand the benefits or, conversely, the uselessness of certain prescriptions. The value-normative function of legal culture, and, more precisely, the level of effectiveness of this direction testifies to the high sense of justice of the population of the state.
• The regime of law and order depends on the level of respect of citizens to the state. This is the responsibility of the educational function of legal culture. It, first of all, is manifested in the existence of legal responsibility, which is subject to all without exception violators of the legal regime of the state. Also, the educational function influences the formation in the minds of people of the right values, assessments and beliefs.
• One of the most important is the communicative function of the category presented in the article. It affects the interaction of society through existing legal norms. In fact, thanks to the communicative function of the population of the state, it unites in one way or another.

Thus, we see that the functions and role of legal culture as a whole are closely connected with society. After all, people are the starting point of any thoughts, theories and concepts. So, in the article the author tried to answer the question, what is the legal culture. The concept and main functions testify that the theoretical development of this category is still necessary. After all, it plays a significant role in the process of creating a legal policy of the state. In addition, the legal culture is necessary for the development of civil society, which today gradually becomes the population of many fairly well-known countries.